Especially the fact that Dual Carrier (DC) enables a device to use the power and bandwidth of two radio bearers (carriers) on the same cell site to transport Data. This can, in ideal radio conditions, double the available bandwidth for the device.

The capacity of a cell site does not increase other than, when available, devices using DC will get on and off the network quicker freeing up the cell power for other users. This means that if there are no DC devices using the network then there is no change to the cell performance, capacity or availability.

Dual Carrier requires two side by side blocks of spectrum (carriers) within the same 3G frequency band to operate. The 3G bands in use in NZ are 850MHz (Telecom), 900MHz (Voda), and 2100MHz (Telecom, Voda & 2D).

Yes that's what I thought. DC is not to be confused with multiple carriers per cell. Note 2D has 900MHz as well, has had for more than a year, starting in Tauranga. However they don't use it in Auckland Wellington Christchurch as yet.

NealR: The capacity of a cell site does not increase other than, when available, devices using DC will get on and off the network quicker freeing up the cell power for other users. This means that if there are no DC devices using the network then there is no change to the cell performance, capacity or availability.

My understanding was that it does also increase cell site capacity. What about tri and quad carrier sites? If there are no tri/quad carrier devices; then that would mean these additional carriers would lay idle?

Chorus has spent $1.4 billion on making their ADSL broadband network faster. Why not spend a couple of hundred to make sure you are getting the most out of your connection?Geekzone special price: $150* for master splitter install, normally $200+ through your ISP. Auckland and Waikato areas.*Travel charges may apply. Additional costs may apply for complex installs. I install - Naked DSL, DSL Master Splitters, VoIP, RBI Rural Broadband. Also a dealer for WorldxChange. Need help in Auckland or Waikato? Click my email button, or email me direct: [my user name] at geekzonemail dot com

For the rest:Multiple carriers per cell site is different from the technology known as Dual Cell/Carrier (DC).

Depending on spectrum availability each 3G cell site (NodeB) can have multiple carriers which enables the total capacity of the cell site to be increased. In simple terms a two carrier site has twice the capacity as a single carrier site.

For XT we have spectrum for 3x850MHz carriers on our 850 sites and spectrum for 3x 2100Mhx carriers on the sites that have 2100. This means that on some of our sites which have both 850Mhz and 2100Mhz antenna & equipment we could enable up to 6 carriers of 3G capacity.

The technology known as Dual Cell aka Dual Carrier aka HSPA-DC enables a single customer device to use two carriers of capacity at the same time. The caveat is that the two carriers must be in the same band. i.e 2 x850, or 2x 2100 for us.

Hence two carriers enables twice the capacity while dual carrier enables twice the data speed. Remember customer must have a DC compatible device to take advantage of the 2x speed of DC.

Hope this helps.

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NealR: The capacity of a cell site does not increase other than, when available, devices using DC will get on and off the network quicker freeing up the cell power for other users. This means that if there are no DC devices using the network then there is no change to the cell performance, capacity or availability.

My understanding was that it does also increase cell site capacity. What about tri and quad carrier sites? If there are no tri/quad carrier devices; then that would mean these additional carriers would lay idle?

As above. DC means a single device able to access two carriers for a better combined throughput than a single carrier. Otherwise the site/RNC will distribute normal (single carrier) devices over the multiple carriers it may support, as determined by the operator config, with each normal device using one of the multiple carriers available.

johnr: I think it's release13 that offers Dual carrier over different bands

And just imagine the battery life and heat generated by a multiband multi cell config bonding 2x850/900 and 2x2100 bands together!

Yea, but only for 15mins until you data cap was gone :)

Chorus has spent $1.4 billion on making their ADSL broadband network faster. Why not spend a couple of hundred to make sure you are getting the most out of your connection?Geekzone special price: $150* for master splitter install, normally $200+ through your ISP. Auckland and Waikato areas.*Travel charges may apply. Additional costs may apply for complex installs. I install - Naked DSL, DSL Master Splitters, VoIP, RBI Rural Broadband. Also a dealer for WorldxChange. Need help in Auckland or Waikato? Click my email button, or email me direct: [my user name] at geekzonemail dot com

So the press release from September stated that by Christmas DC-HSPA will begin rolling out.

Can anyone from Telecom comment on how that's going and where it's deployed at the moment?

Or can anyone with a DC-HSPA capable device on Telecom share their experiences so far?

Vodafone are making no secret of their DC-HSPA coverage, and their recently updated maps show coverage is pretty extensive already, and outside of the main centres too, so it'd be interesting to see how Telecom compares at the moment.

DC-HSDPA is a new technology that Telecom is currently rolling out to its Smartphone Network, to enable faster data download speeds. The key bits in that unwieldy acronym are 'DC' for 'Dual Carrier' and the other 'D' is for 'Downlink' and means a compatible mobile device can ask the network for double the normal data connections to boost its download speed. So does the Lumia 920 support DC-HSDPA, I hear you ask? Why, yes. Yes, it does. DC-HSDPA is still being rolled out around the country so coverage is increasing as I type, but I did some tests at Telecom Place and a couple of spots around the Auckland CBD to see what's possible with the Lumia 920 and this network upgrade.